The Nightsister's Magic
by Skywalkercrow
Summary: The Rebels and the Empire race to find a holocron in a recently discovered temple in the outer rim. Both parties arriving at the same time cause a consequence unexpected and unpleasant for everyone involved.
1. The Holocron

**Author's Note:**

I hope y'all love the more magical side of the force seen in TCW and Rebels.

Set before ANH and within the SWRebels timeline

* * *

The princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa, was barely seventeen and she was already an elected senator and an active member in the Rebellion. With her Status as a senator and being the princess of a non-militarized planet, she was often able to travel long distances in humanitarian missions, it was easy to claim that on said mercy missions a ship was lost to pirates. It was also easy for Leia to transfer information between different rebellion factions without suspicion on said missions.

It was on one such mission when she received a transmission that was supposed to be brought to the newly indoctrinated Ghost crew. A very small Rebel group that stood out from the rest because they had a two Jedi onboard.

Supposed to be being the key word. Because the group had only just joined, they very rarely made contact with the main groups or base. They preferred to stick to themselves. Often not even trusting the other Rebel factions because of the Jedi onboard.

Which is why Leia Organa could not quickly give the transmission to them, no one knew where they were. And being in a privileged position in the Rebellion she made the choice to act on the information given and her own knowledge of the Jedi.

And so, Leia Organa made the bold decision of forming a small squadron and planed an infiltration mission to acquire the ancient holocron for the living Jedi of the Rebellion. They had to investigate the temple before the Empire burned it to the ground.

It was quickly approved with the Rebels infatuation with the legendary Jedi, the idea that they would be restoring a part of the Jedi that were lost, and the low risk of a small infiltration of an unoccupied planet. Along with the hope that this mission would encourage the Ghost crew to become more involved with the main factions of the Rebellion making it so the Rebels once again had Jedi in their ranks.

* * *

Of course because any news of Jedi traveled fast in the Rebellion, it also traveled fast to the Empire.

"There has been urgent news from our spies." The captain of Vader's current ship, Piett spoke to his commander in a crisp core would accent. "The Rebels have gotten word of a Jedi temple, located on Dathomir. They appear to launching a small recon team to investigate."

This was interesting news. But there were no Jedi temples on Dathomir. Because of the secrecy of the Jedi, the Sith and other force factions were not well known, he could see how many people often mistook them for one another. The Rebels would be in for a surprise if they expected a Jedi temple. Especially considering the trickery of the extinct Nightsisters of the planet.

This would however be a good chance to eliminate any Jedi who were in the Rebellion that may come to investigate it. Vader would like them to be those two half trained Jedi that kept returning to the hidden Temple on Lothal. If not, elimination of ordinary Rebels would and the destruction of the temple would do just fine.

"Inform General Veers to prepare a small squad immediately. We will arrive before the Rebels and wait to ambush them." Lord Vader gave him orders.

"Right away milord."

* * *

Taking only a small crew of stormtroopers and their General, allowed for a fast departure to Dathomir, and it also allowed them to remain undetected for when the Rebels arrived.

The main problem was they were not entirely sure where the temple was. Their spies had not been able to determine the exact location the Rebels has received.

Darth Vader flew into the planet blind trusting only the force to guide his path.

They landed the ship far away from what had once been civilization as Vader followed the largest presence in the force he could find. He hoped it was not simply left over Nightsister magic that drew him into this area.

"Milord do you know where the temple is located?" General Veers asked him.

"I do not. But the force has guided me here." Vader responded. "We will walk a short ways to the location, we do not want the Rebels to detect our ship."

The small platoon followed Darth Vader as they trekked through the red and green planet.

"The Rebels have breached atmosphere." The stormtrooper captain said, as they were closely approaching the location.

Vader reached out in the force, there was a singular ship, no more then twenty people inside. This meant they likely thought this would be a quick infiltration mission.

A disappointing discovery was that the Jedi- Palawan duo, Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, who he had meet once before and had escaped his grasp, were not onboard the ship. But there was another force signature. One that seamed familiar but he did not know the name of.

"There is a singular Jedi onboard the rebels ship. If possible they are to be captured for interrogation." He told the troops.

A chorus of "yes milord" came from his stormtroopers as they readied their weapons for the incoming fight.

What Vader believed to be the temple was in sight. It was carved from dark stone and glowing green with the Nightsister's presence. A decade after their extinction the temple appeared to be in perfect working order. The Nightsister magic still pouring out in green smoke as if it was being freshly created.

Moving through the halls of the Nightsister's temple he sensed a disturbance in the force. It was not a disturbance of warning or danger, but rather a pulling call that beckoned him deeper.

Vader had wanted to set up the ambush towards the entrance of the temple, but he felt compelled to move inward by the force.

He could almost hear the whispers of whatever laid in the center of this place calling to him like kyber crystals called to the force sensitive.

 _"Come to us, you are not of the Jedi or Sith. You may be worthy."_

He could almost see shadows of people moving through the temple as they once had. It was as if the temple was still alive years after the Nightsister's extinction.

None of his troops seamed to be effected by whatever laid within.

It was only until General Veers spoke up did Vader stop the journey to the center of the temple.

"Milord, would this be a good place to set up the ambush?" Veers said, not wanting to outright say Vader was making the wrong choice to keep moving inward.

The area they were in was a room decorated in carved wall writings and places in between a myriad of seemingly endless hallways.

"Set up the ambush here." Vader said knowing Veers was correct. "I will return shortly before the Rebels arrive."

Walking through an archway Vader continued his journey to the center of the temple alone.

Deep within the stone hallways he came to a circular room with intricate carved patterns in the floor. It was Interesting to note this room had five entrances, meaning that it would be possible for the Rebels to take a different path to the center that did not intersect with theirs. In the center of the room there was a raised platform where a glowing red triangular holocron gently floated.

There was a Sith holocron within a Dathomiran temple.

Strange, but the Nightsister's had used a mixture of the dark and light side of the force. It would not be impossible for them to have experimentally make a hybrid holocron. Much like Sith holocrons whatever was inside must have been infused with a person's life force and therefore was capable of communication with the living.

 _"Are you worthy?"_

The voice spoke to him again, and this time he knew it was coming from the holocron itself.

Vader not willing to place himself in some sort of battle with this ghost, left the room and returned to his troops. He felt the holocron call back to him one more. But he knew better then to grab that object with his hands. The Sith holocrons were vastly different then their Jedi counterparts, and with this one having part Nightsister inside it was likely more dangerous then the Sith ones could ever hope to be.

 _"Do not leave me here alone."_

"Lord Vader do you know what the scripture on the wall says?" His general asked.

"I understand the language." Vader told him. Darth Sidious had him learn the language a long time ago while he had been recovering from his burns. It was the language of the Sith. Once used by many, now only two. The fact that the walls were inscribed with this language instead of the Nightsister's own ment they had once been in close contact with the Sith. How long ago this was and why, Vader did not know.

"Will you translate this for us milord?" Veers said pointing to the words above the archway headed towards the holocron Vader had just walked out of. This phrase seemed to be carved repeatedly into the walls.

The words were written in Sith, but the phrases themselves were obviously Nightsister. Often cryptic in their statements, more like poetry meant to capture feeling rather then having any substance or meaning.

"Blood that sheds blood shall walk in one another's path." He translated for Veers, the words loosing rhythm and rhyme in the translation. "Life of life that causes death will live as that death and it will set us free."

The last part of the short poem reminded Vader of the Sith and Jedi codes. Whoever had built this temple had taken inspiration from them.

"I'm not sure if I understand." Veers spoke his mind without prompting.

"These Nightsister's writings are more of poetry then substance. It would be useless to spend time to determine their meaning."

Darth Vader hoped the Rebels path would intersect with their own within this labyrinth of a temple. Hopefully the Jedi onboard would be called to the center in the same path he had been.

And he sensed the Jedi was getting closer with each passing moment.

* * *

The Rebels, unsuspecting of the incoming ambush, followed Leia Organa through the tunnels unprepared for the upcoming fight, chatting amongst themselves.

The princess had been positive on the correct way through the tunnels despite having no map, traveling through hallways sure they were not lost. None of them saw the ambush coming.

The Empire opened fire on the Rebels before they realized they were there.

With many supporting beams, artful arch-work and intersecting hallways, there were many places for the Rebels to hide and they quickly took cover and returned fire. Princess Leia chose to stick to the back of the room as she was not as heavily equipped in armor as the rest of the Rebels.

Darth Vader, as usual, took place in front of his stormtroopers with his lightsaber out, deflecting the incoming fire and protecting his small group of troops as he slowly pushed forward. The Rebels were outmatched and clinging to their hiding places best they could, trying to avoid shooting at Vader's lightsaber and endure more blasterfire.

Leia seeing more archways behind her and feeling the need to find whatever laid at the center, left the battle zone and ran trough a doorway behind Rebel lines.

Vader sensing what he believed to be the Jedi take off running through the hallways, stopped blocking blaster fire and ran through the archway he knew led to the Sith holocron, taking a blaster shot to his right shoulder as he disengaged from battle. Leaving his troops to finish off the remaining Rebels.

He arrived in the holocron's room a second after what he had presumed to be the Jedi did.

The Sith Lord was incredibly surprised to not see a Jedi, but rather the young princess and senator of Alderaan Leia Organa. Knowing this, Vader now had to capture her alive in order to fully convict the Royal household of treason without risking a full scale planetary Rebellion. Sidious would be disappointed in him if he did anything less.

Being much taller and stronger then the princess he was able to catch up to her quickly.

The princess had just gotten her hands on the triangular holocron when Vader was able to get a hold on her arm. Planning on dragging her out of the temple and bringing her directly to the jail cells onboard his Star-destroyer.

However, neither of the two were able to make another move as a presence entered their minds and turned their thoughts to static, stopping their current actions.

 _"We haven't been visited in a long time."_

A woman's voice spoke directly too them in a strong but unpleasant voice.

 _"It's a shame neither of you are worthy of me."_

Vader tried to fight off her presence but was trapped within his own mind unable to connect with his body.

 _ **"But maybe you could be."**_


	2. Switched

**Author's** **Note** : idk how the Star Wars senate works so I just BSed it

A lot of referencing to the Vader comics. but you dont need to read them to understand!

 _Warning_ : body horror, slight mention of eating problems

* * *

Darth Vader did not remember going to sleep, but he could feel the haze of waking up from a deep slumber.

Not being able to immediately recall what had happen beforehand, his first thought was to assume he had fallen unconscious taking injuries out in the field, and was currently experiencing the usual temporary amnesia. However unlike those times, Vader could tell he was not in his Bacta tank, but rather a bed. That was unusual.

His second thought was, _had he been captured somehow?_

Assuming the absolute worst— not wanting to let anyone know he was awake— he searched in the force, and found the presence of everyone in the immediate area to be unfamiliar. However, there was no one currently in the room he occupied.

When he opened his eyes he was met with the harsh white bright lights of a standard medical bay. This was another immediate cause for concern that added to the thought of being captured. The second in command had his own medical bay on his Star Destroyer— he should not have been brought here. But there were several things that contradicted his theory of capture.

For one, he was not restrained in any manner. Perhaps whoever had brought him here believed Vader would not be able to escape without his armor and respirator.

At that thought of his broken body, Vader realized he was breathing. On his own.

Unlike the fantasies he used to have years ago when he first became Darth Vader, he wasn't filled with happiness or relief. This was immensely frightening— freezing him to his core. More so than anything he had experienced in years.

There was an inherent sense of incorrect that started to sink into every inch of his skin.

It was then that he observed himself, slowing turning his hands around as he looked in disbelief at real human skin and bones. But they were _nothing_ like the hands he remembered having before that day on Mustafar. Even when he was a Jedi his skin had never been this pale of a color— this free of marks and untarnished from work and war.

Moving aside the sheets, he saw that the rest of his body was nothing like anything he had ever seen before on himself.

 _Incorrect_. All he could think was that this was incorrect. Everything about this was surreal.

He did not have this pale unscarred skin.

He did not have arms and legs made of flesh and bone.

Sometimes, Vader had dreamed of having his body before it had been burned away— but now having an unmarred body, he felt incredibly sick and wrong. He was hyper aware of every inch of himself and every move he made.

Vader calmed himself by attempting to not think about it. What has happened cannot be changed immediately, so he must focus on something else— anything else.

Slowly he remembered where he had been before this, in the Sith-nightsister hybrid temple. The Rebel fight and the discovery of the Organa's treason.

They must have done this. Whatever this was. The Nightsisters had been known for their unique way in using the force and the unpredictable havoc it often caused.

Then Vader thought:

 _Why this?_

However there was no time to contemplate this development, as he sensed someone approaching this room. It was a familiar presence— but one that he couldn't place the name of, until the door opened and Vader saw their face— Bail Organa.

"I'm glad you're finally awake, you've been out for several hours. I've been worried sick about you." Alderaan's previous senator, greeted him as if they were close friends.

Worthy of note, was that Organa recognized him somehow. He acted as if he knew this different body and form.

 _Why was Bail Organa still walking free?_ Vader thought. Had the rest of his troops not seen the Alderaanian Princess amongst the Rebels ranks?

"You'll be happy to know the package was delivered." Bail spoke one more, in a heavy but understanding tone while slowly approaching the medical bed. "But you should have told me. You shouldn't have gone. You know how I worry about you dear. You're lucky you managed to escape unseen and unharmed."

That is when Vader understood he had not changed his form— he had changed into a different person that had _already_ existed. Someone Organa cared for.

Now his thoughts were not of what but, of Who the Nightsister's had made him into?

With a sincere expression, Bail sat on the edge of the bed by his side, and placed a hand on his shoulder— the warmth of his palm sinking into his skin. Vader was incredibly uncomfortable with Bail's display of affection. But he resisted the urge to push his hand away.

"Leia, you need to tell me what happened on Dathomir. You were found unconscious next to Darth Vader, but you were somehow completely unharmed."

Vader could not say anything if he tried. Of all the people in the galaxy, the last of the Nightsisters decided to change him into the traitor Leia Organa.

It must have been because they both made contact with the holocron— they had been the only two people in the room at the time.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Asked Bail, sounding concerned— noticing what he believed to be his child's distress and he attempted to soothe it.

However Bail's actions did the opposite of soothing Vader— unused to this kind of affection, it caused distress. It caused Vader to think more on how incorrect all of this was. How he wasn't even the person Bail thought he was comforting.

 _How he didn't deserve—_

"I need to go to the refresher." Vader spoke, barely registering the foreign sound of his voice as he stood up.

If Bail said anything in response he didn't notice it as he went into the refresher and immediately closed and locked the door. Vader believed this plan for some cool down time would have worked if it wasn't for the mirror. The face he was greeted with was familiar, but it was not his. It had never once been his. And although Vader had known he was now Leia, knowing was completely different to seeing— to look into a mirror and to not see your own face.

The traitorous Leia Organa looked back at him. Blinking as he did, moving as he did, it was similar to how he felt after Mustafar. Seeing a face in the mirror— that you knew was yours— looked familiar, but you did not feel as if that was what you looked like.

The princess looked different from her usual regal high fashion self. The hair that was perfectly braided was partly undone and woven with dirt and dust— the white outfit was stained with grey and brown. To put it another way, they were uncharacteristically a mess.

Vader was not entirely sure what to do with himself. He had never come up with a plan for this situation. The Nightsister's have truly outdone themselves this time. Causing problems far after their extinction. One final " _Kriff you"_ to the rest of the galaxy for daring to ever step foot on their planet.

This needed to be reversed as soon as possible.

But Vader did not know how to reverse this at the moment.

He could just say here for a little while, until he got a hold of himself and came up with some sort of plan on how to handle this madness. Or— he thought noticing the clothes placed on the countertop— he could actually get something done now. He doubted Bail Organa would let him walk outside this room looking like this. Politicians and royalty always kept up their looks.

The singular thing he was thankful for in this moment was that Alderaan's fashion was uncomplicated and easy to put on. Although he wasn't a fan of the white.

Then Vader noticed the eyes looking back at him through Leia's face— they were _yellow_.

It took him far too long to realize he had been using the force within Leia Organa's body. He felt like a fool for not noticing sooner. After all, he had mistaken her for being a Jedi on Dathomir— but it wasn't as if that mattered in the current moment. There was absolutely nothing Vader could do without incriminating himself as he was now the Organa's Princess. At the very least, Vader would still be connected to the dark side of the force and he could use its power to steady himself.

Thinking of Leia, he realized this must mean she was in his body. Her consciousness certainly was not within this body. The idea of someone else— never mind a Rebel—walking around as him was greatly disturbing. The havoc a rebel in his body could cause was unthinkable, she could ruin his relationship with Sidious, send the Rebels valuable information, or worse yet she could destroy his body permanently, and there would be no more Darth Vader to the rest of the galaxy.

Vader held onto that feeling of unease and fear, letting the dark side of the force swallow him whole— using his negative emotions to keep himself centered. While a rebel was in his body, he was in the body of a rebel, and he was going to rip them apart from the inside out.

With this new idea in mind, tuning this disastrous situation into a workable one, he left the refresher.

"Are you alright?" Bail asked the second he exited.

Vader swore he would take back anything he's ever complained about the higher ranked imperials if it meant he wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense.

"Yes, of course I am." Vader said in Leia's voice, attempting to mimic her core world accent. When he spoke his throat felt clear and light, unlike the scratch talking was supposed to feel like.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened between yourself and Darth Vader?" He questioned. "No one saw."

Vader did not think up a lie for this.

"I... am not entirely sure what happened." He answered, offering as little information as possible. "I was in a fight, than I awoken here."

"Did he see you?"

"No." Vader had to fight the smile from his face by pressing his lips together. He was not used to having to school his expressions.

If only he could record all of this. The moment he gets back into his body he is going to take this man's head off. It was very likely a lot of the Rebellion's funding came from the Organa family.

Bail sighed.

"If you feel you are well enough, you may return to Coruscant—the relief ship is hidden in the lower docking bay. The doctor didn't see anything that was wrong, and we can't let anyone be suspicious by keeping you here for long."

The man was obviously upset at his daughter's actions, but knew being angry would not help the situation— that much Vader could tell.

"I'll leave right away then." Vader said turning his back to Bail as he faced the door. He knew he wouldn't be able to help the sneer on his face as he said, "It would be... unfortunate if Vader knew of our involvement." Before walking out the door and going to board the ship to Coruscant.

* * *

Color was a thing Vader didn't realize he would be so focused on until it caused him to nearly walk into another person.

It was as if he was seeing green and pink for the first time all over again. The hospital and the relief ship he had previously been in had been devoid of all color— his mask had only showed him hues of red as to avoid further damage to his eyes. While senatorial apartments were covered in complementary colors of purple and yellow, the people walking the halls wore all the colors of the rainbow in high fashion that kept catching his eye whenever they passed.

Another thing he wasn't expecting is that he now had to look up to people to see their face instead of down.

It was then that Vader realized he had no idea where Leia Organa's apartment was— and he felt like a fool as he had to look it up on Leia's comlink, which was luckily thumbprint and not password locked. Vader really did not want to have a slicing attempt today just to find out where he was supposed to be.

Finally walking into Leia Organa's apartment after all these distractions, he was greeted by the familiar voice of a droid.

"Oh good heavens, her majesty is alright." A golden protocol droid greeted him with genuine concern. "Welcome back, I hope your trip went well, you know how we don't like you going out without us."

For a moment, Vader almost thought it was his old droid. Protocol droids were common in the galaxy among the upper class, often serving as translators and cooks. It made sense for a senator who happened to be a princess to have one of her one— instead of having people doing that type of work for her. He supposed he would much rather deal with droids then people. If anything went wrong he could just reprogram it.

"What is my schedule?" Vader asked the droid, assuming it handled things like that.

"Tomorrow you have the regularly scheduled senate session from ten to two. An hour break, and then another hour long senate session. After that dinner with—"

"—Cancel dinner. I don't want to eat with anyone."

"Oh my, but your majesty it's with your close friend."

 _So has Mon Mothma finally made you mad about something_ A blue and white astronomical unit he hadn't noticed until now said in binary. _Threepio cancel it immediately, I knew that woman was a bit too soft spoken, probably was talking poodoo behind her back._

Simultaneously, the protocol droid and Vader said:

"Hush now, I'm sure her majesty is still friends with Senator Mothma."

"Threepio?"

If this droid was really his Threepio, Vader decided the moment he returned to his body he was going to not only behead Bail Organa, he would also personally burn the Alderaan royal household to the ground— and that astromech unit must be his Artoo then— he certainly spoke like him, and the two always tended to go together.

Vader had thought they were both destroyed on Mustafar, as Anakin and _She_ had once been.

"Oh dear, sorry for speaking over you, your majesty." Threepio said unaware of Vader's revelation and slow steaming anger. "Artoo here just made some less than nice comments about your friend."

If Vader could have imagined a meeting with his two long lost droids, this was not it. He wasn't sure how these two ended up here— however he did know if they both were aware he was alive they would have stayed by his side.

They would have never betrayed him.

"Who is your creator?" Vader asked Threepio.

"Oh my, I do not know the maker. Why do you ask?"

"How old are you?" Immediately he asked another question.

"Hmmm," Threepio took a moment to search his memory banks, "It appears I am seventeen standard years old."

The exact number of years since the Empire, Since Mustafar. They must have been memory wiped the moment Bail had gotten his hands on them— However he managed to do that.

Bail Organa would be dead where he stood for memory wiping his droids. Threepio and Artoo were not a caretakers for his kid. They were his comrades, his friends.

 _Since when do you understand binary? And where did all these questions come from_

Artoo was always the smart one. It appeared that a memory wipe couldn't quite change the altered programming Vader had given him.

"I've been learning it in my spare time. I've become... interested in mechanics."

Perhaps if he had tools to work with, he could try to restore their memory banks. He knew he built in fail safes in both of them— it was something the Jedi Council had not been too pleased about when they found out— but it had saved their lives on more than one occasion.

It was a surprise to think someone had managed to wipe Artoo's mind to behind with, if not a disgusting act it would be commendable. Vader had spent hours encrypting his database so that in the event of a capture the information he held wouldn't fall into enemy hands. At least not without one hell of a struggle and days of burned time.

 _Yeah? Well where did your accent go Miss Organa_

"Oh Artoo, calm down, you always get so worked up about such small things." Threepio said cutting the tension.

Vader had forgotten about the core world accent.

He had forgotten how his droid has gotten a few personality quirks from his meddling in their systems. He didn't exactly want to lie to his droids when he wanted to eventually bring them back to where they belong— but saying their old friend was alive and he switched bodies with the Princess of Alderaan because of the extinct Nightsisters wasn't exactly something he expected living sentients to understand and believe, never mind two droids.

Sometimes he feels as if the force existed solely to mess with him in particular.

"... I have no way of explaining what happened to me."

 _I doubt it, I've seen a lot of crazy things in my time_

"And what kind of crazy things would a princess's droid see?" Vader said, lowering to his knees so that he was on equal view to the astromech.

 _You seem to have forgotten again that I wasn't always yours Princess_ Artoo said moving closer to him in challenge, _not that your allowed to know who, security and all that_

Then Artoo had not been memory wiped based on that information as Vader has previously assumed.

It was almost tragic, memory wiping one of the pair and not the other. However, there were other things to consider at the moment. Vader's anger with where his two droids ended up mixed into his displeasure with Artoo's attitude.

Vader's eyebrows rose as he curled his lip in a snarl— showing teeth to meet Artoo's challenge as he said, "And you seem to have kept your snarky attitude from the Clone Wars."

Vader was unable to help himself from one upping his droid.

 _What?_ Artoo backed up a few inches in surprise. _Who told you that? Did you find out on your little trip? Or did your father finally tell you_

"You could say that. You could say that's also why I'm asking questions and lost the accent." He responded, lowering his voice dangerously.

"Mistress Leia," Threepio said interrupting their face off with good intentions, "believe me when I tell you, arguing with Artoo is never good for you."

"Perhaps you're right..." He was not truly angry at Artoo, he could never be— It wasn't his fault he had been stolen. Vader quickly stood up from his knees. "I'll be in my room if you need me."

Darth Vader needed to get back on track and look for evidence of the Organa's Rebel activity. The Princess's room would make a decent starting point— And leaving this room would mean he was less likely to take his anger out on his two droids.

As he attempted to search, he quickly discovered the princess's room did not make a good starting point.

There was nothing of value here, he had even checked behind the walls and flooring for a hidden compartment, running his fingers along every seam and tapping on it to listen for empty pockets of space— trying to use the force to sense anything— but there was nothing. Just copious amounts of white clothes, some datapads on Empire approved history, and a few holos of the Organa's family.

Only thirty minutes had passed by the time he was done searching the entire room, and then he was left with nothing to do.

It was strange, to be not busy with some kind of work constantly. Vader felt as if he should be doing something important right now— but he wasn't exactly Vader at the moment. He felt as if he was a caged animal making restless rounds in a small enclosure, unable to run as it wanted to.

Although not fond of it, Vader could still meditate in the force as he waited for something to do. He had never been fond of meditating, it always felt as if the force had a grip on him and was dragging him across the ground as it pleased. It was nothing as the Jedi or Sidious have ever described it.

On the edge of Leia's bed he sat, and tried to grab his emotions and hold them close to the center of his chest.

The thing he was looking forward too least of all was that tomorrow he would have to go to the senate. It felt like time was slowly ticking down the moment he would be forced to interact with the narcissistic politicians, and for the first time he wouldn't have intimidation on his side— nor would he be able to get away with threatening one of them when they inevitably said something out of line. He would just have to take their hypocritical self absorbed overly wordy politics without retort. This was frustration, anger— a side of helplessness and annoyance.

And then his thoughts turned away from the mundane, as they quickly become swept into the will of the force.

The presence of Darth Sidious was absent from the planet. With a much wider view of the world Vader could tell that. Despite being filled with life, this made Coruscant feel oddly silent.

 _Mustafar_ , the force told him. _He is on Mustafar._

Likely with his body injured and found unconscious, he would be brought to his medical facility on Mustafar. And his Master would be awaiting for what he believed to be his apprentice's awakening, so that he could belittle him for his failure. It was humiliating for Vader to think of the Rebel scum Organa getting to see how the mysterious and imposing figure of Lord Vader was truly treated. There was a burning shame that came with her knowing how broken he was with no detail spared. It would be a miracle of the force if Organa did not somehow complete destroy the fragile relationship he had with Sidious.

Then Vader heard the force whisper to him in hues of bright green and red.

 **_Unworthy_ **.

They told him.

But what was it that he was unworthy of? He knew of a great many things he didn't deserve, many of them had eventually been taken from him. This was speaking to him as if he believed himself to be worthy of something in particular, something that he did believe himself to be worthy of.

 **_You think you're the special one_ **?

Vader was nothing special in the Empire, if he failed he would simply be replaced by one of the Inquisitors. The Emperor had told him this many times, but it had not been in a malicious manner. Sidious did mention the loss of his life would be a great tragedy. That he should at least try to avoid injury and to take care of what was left of his body. At the very least to not purposely inflict harm into himself.

But although that was a great emotion he often used, the path that would potentially take him down in the Force was unwanted.

Sidious and he had a strange relationship for no better words. Although he did say that they were destined to be different than the Sith Lords of the past. Perhaps that was it.

 **_Balance, of the darkness and the light_ **.

Vader was not balance, he was only darkness. He was a void that consumed everything and everyone in sight. He had proved himself to be worthy of the Sith Lord title, he had openly taken his new name and life.

"Are you quite alright?" A posh voice said in concern, he paid it no mind in the vortex of the force.

 **_Is that truly who you are, who everyone thought you were._ **

Vader was not that child of light everyone thought would someday save them all, none of them were deserving of savior. Not after leaving the outer rim behind, not after leaving his mother behind in slavery, not after sending a fourteen year old to war, not after using the clones like game pieces as if they weren't alive. In order for Vader to fulfill his destiny he needed to eradicate them and their corrupt order. Next he would kill Sidious. As much as that fact pained him. Then balance would be finally brought, the endless war between the Sith and the Jedi would end, and with it soon after Darth Vader's life would end as well. Leaving a galaxy in peace. Only after his destiny is met could he be allowed to die. Not a moment before. He had tried.

The voice spoke one last time, and with it Vader realized it was the same voice of the hybrid holocron. The one that cursed him into this.

 **_You are not that to me_ **.

"Mistress Leia!?"

Vader was harshly jolted from his meditation.

"Mistress Leia, have you been up all night?" Threepio asked him, standing a few feet from the door holding a tray with breakfast. "I've called you a few times now."

It appears he did mediate all night. Time in the force moved faster during meditation when the user successfully drowned themselves in its pull. The dark side, stronger than the light, more often caressed the user deeper and deeper into the depths of its tide as they became lost in visions and voices.

And the force certainly loved to pull it's Chosen One into its grasp whenever given the opportunity.

"I know you want your senate bill to be perfect, but organics really need their rest." Threepio continued.

Then Vader _was_ supposed to have been doing something the night before, he simply had not known what it was. It was not as if it mattered— he would not have worked on the senate bill even if he had known.

Not like he could fix it even if he cared enough to look at it. There was a reason the Emperor did not allow him to make laws, or bother to involve him with the political side of the Empire.

 _Remember when you tired? Remember how you were denied?_ A dark part of his mind told him. The Emperor thought of you like a child.

"I'll get rest another time." Vader said to reassure his anxious droid.

"I'll put breakfast in the dining room." Threepio said before making his way through the door.

Artoo was nowhere to be found as he made his way after the protocol droid. Hopefully he wasn't getting into too much trouble.

The food smelled completely unappetizing to him— it made him clench his jaw and crinkle his nose in disgust. Made of a greasy butter stench that slid down his throat like hot vomit and made his stomach churn.

Vader sat down and gave his best fake smile to Threepio and told him:

"Thanks for making this."

"Oh? Oh! Of course your majesty, I am here to serve." Threepio sounded surprised and happy to hear this.

Normally, all of Vader's nutrients were given to him via intravenous tubes unless he was on Mustafar— and when he was there the food was tasteless. He tried to eat the food in front of him and while it went down fine he didn't want to eat anything.

"Why don't you pick out my outfit for today."

"Of course, your majesty, I'll do so right away." Threepio answered.

Then he proceeded into the bedroom very pleased with himself.

Vader promptly got rid of breakfast.

Then something on the table caught his eye as it glinted in the light. There was a knife. Of course wasn't a viroblade— but it did have a serrated edge, it would cut through cloth and skin if given enough pressure.

Being in charge of many security measures, Vader knew the knife wouldn't be detected and confiscated like a viroblade would be when he entered the senate building.

It was better to have _something_ then to be completely defenseless if he couldn't show his force abilities— even if that something wasn't that good of a weapon— so he took the knife and slipped it into his boot before going to follow after Threepio.

* * *

Politics. Darth Vader was not good with politics.

He was far too direct. It was a good thing the senate had no actual power and none of his actions in the senate meant anything. Because Vader had no idea what was going on or what anyone was talking about or what sentences meant most of the time. It wasn't as if he was completely lost— he was well aware of the main subject people spoke to him about— but because the other politicians often conflated their sentences with unnecessary words to hide their true stance on the subject, he often had no idea if the person he was speaking to was for or against the subject.

Vader was pretty sure he accidentally insulted at least twelve people by now— judging by the unpleasant faces people occasionally made towards him.

Everything about being Leia Organa was a serious test to his limited patience.

The worst part about it all was that he couldn't find anything related to the Rebellion anywhere in her apartment, or her Senate office, or in the other people she spoke too.

On top of that, there were a lot of normal things that Vader was not used to doing that he had to do now. Things he hadn't realized how much time they all took up on a daily basis.

Eating three times, getting dressed, showering once and sleeping for about eight hours every single day took up far too much time then Vader remembered it taking before he had been in the suit. It was tiresome doing all theses things _every single day_ repeatedly.

It was a good thing that Threepio was there to make him look _senatorial_ for the public. There was no way he would he ever spend an hour getting ready each morning.

Darth Vader lived as Leia Organa for five days before he heard word of himself— his body, the failed mission. The news stations said he had fought valiantly against the Rebels in the front line and protected his stormtroopers against a Rebel ambush. It wasn't entirely true, but he knew The Empire liked to embellish stores to make them more interesting, and more importantly saying their second in command had passed out during battle and their objective had been lost, would not make the Empire look as all powerful as they wanted to appear.

At least now he knew Leia Organa, piloting his body, would be coming to Coruscant very soon. Knowing this predicament and what he himself wanted to do, he would bet Organa is going to come looking for her body— and Vader will be waiting.

They had a lot to talk about.

* * *

When the second in command of the Empire had suddenly disengaged from a winning battle against the Rebels and ran for the holocron room, many of the stormtroopers startled by his behavior, stopped fighting and attempted to rush after him.

General Veers was unable to prevent his small squadron from being shot in the back.

Both teams were left with few survivors scrambling for their leaders who had both abruptly disappeared from battle. The Rebels were able to take off for their leader first— being much less organized having only a few of them chase after Leia— leaving more than half the squad to come out of their hiding and shoot the stormtroopers in the back.

Coming into the circular room and seeing Darth Vader and Leia Organa both unconscious on the ground, the Rebels took their princess and the red holocron, and ran for one of the other exists on the opposite side of the room— but not before they put a few extra blaster bolts into Vader's back. Thinking they had finally killed him before making their escape with their squad leader.

The Empire was able to finish off the Rebels who had stayed before they too, came into the now empty room, and saw the second in command laying on the floor with blaster burns in his back.

General Veers was horrified at the thought that this small group of Rebels has managed to defeat Vader, but he was greatly relieved to realize his commander was still alive upon further inspection— calling in for backup and a medical team immediately.

The mission for the Imperials was considered a failure, and the Rebels, although suffered tragic losses, completed their objective and lived on to see another day.

* * *

Leia Organa did not wake up all at once as Darth Vader had.

She came in and out of consciousness unable to fully awaken in the viscous bacta tank. Halfway in between wake and sleep— she was unable to understand what was happening as she drifted for days in a state of complete haze until, the tank was drained and there was a sharp shock of pain in her limbs. She was suddenly completely woken from her sleep in a single moment, and attempted to shout at the raw pain— but there was something strapped to the bottom half of her face, that kept her mouth firmly shut.

Then, abruptly some kind of machinery released her from its cold grip— she fell on her knees to the ground, barely able to catch herself from falling face first onto the hard floor.

It was a surreal experience.

The first thing Leia consciously noticed was a buzzing in her ears that did not clear away, and a foggy haze that made it hard to concentrate on anything in particular.

It was the most frightening experience she ever had waking up. However that awareness of her wake quickly slipped from her. Despite just waking up, she was very groggy and that fear she had felt moments before fell away with this daze she was in.

 _Sweet_ . Was what she thought instead of worrying about her current circumstances. The back of her throat felt overly sickly sweet and clinically sharp. _Did she accidentally eat bacta, somehow?_

Confused as to what was happening and how she got here, Leia attempted to open her eyes and see where she was— but there was something wrong with her eyesight. She could not get a clear look at where she was.

The room— from what she could tell— was completely black, with spots of red near the walls and what looked to be a droid to her right, and a person was standing in front of her. Her vision blurred everything together making it harder to distinguish objects from one another, the things closer to her being easier to see, Leia could not tell what else was in the room or judge how big it was. Which was a strange unreal realization, because she did not have bad vision.

This wasn't the only thing off putting about her current predicament.

Leia felt incredibly weird, like her entire body was cold pins and needles, there was the strange pull to the front of her neck whenever she turned her head, and she could hardly tell she was sitting on the floor— knowing only because she knew she had fallen. Only now was it registering in her brain she could see parts of her arms and legs were not skin and bones. They were cybernetics. Uncompleted ones at that.

The princess could vaguely recall planning on going on a mission and being attacked, but the details of the attack escaped her.

Leia vaguely thought:

 _Something must have gone terribly wrong._

She did not remember leaving that temple. She does remember seeing Darth Vader charging at her with an open fist. She doesn't remember what happened next.

Thoughts she tried to firmly grab in her hands fell through the spaces of her fingers. The only one she was able to fully keep in her grip, was that she had almost died when Vader ran full force into her— and yet still her eyes felt heavy at that realization.

It was a hard feeling to shake off. This bone weary heavy tiredness and a dull throbbing pain.

The medical droid approached her but did not make any moves to help her. If it said anything Leia did not hear it over the ringing in her ears.

Making the first move, Leia tried to remove the contraption on her face— as the medroid was not doing anything to help— but found she couldn't as it was strapped to the back of her head in multiple places that required precision to undo. Her shaven head.

 _That was not right_ . Leia thought. The royal princes and princesses on Alderaan aren't allowed to cut their hair. Leia _wanted_ to worry about that, but it felt like she couldn't if she tried.

She did however, understand that this was not how things were supposed to be.

Deciding to do its function, the medroid shone a penlight into her eyes as it spoke— Leia flinched away from the bright lights— she was unable to catch the first part of what it said, but she caught the end of it say:

"—The painkillers appear to still be in effect." Speaking impersonally to the other person in the room.

 _Had she been drugged?_ Leia thought. _Was that why everything was so off?_

A familiar voice then spoke from the blurred humanoid figure, seemingly ignoring the words of the medroid they said:

"The Nightsisters continue with their trickery even after their death."

However, not being able to see their face did not mean Leia was unable to recognize who it was when they spoke— and the sound of his voice was an added layer of foggy unease on top of everything she had been experiencing since she woke up.

The _Emperor_.

Sheev Palpatine was here speaking to her after she had been grievously injured a mission for the Rebel alliance. This was the worst situation she could have possibly ended up in. Perhaps even worse then her nightmares could make.

Leia hoped her parents had managed to escape safely.

She should probably attempt to get off the floor to at least have some dignity but, she was so slow to move— her limbs felt overly heavy and cumbersome. No part of her was moving as she wanted it to.

In a condescending tone, Leia heard in her mind:

 **_You cannot be you to learn._ **

Leia did not know from where it came—it did not feel like one of her thoughts— she didn't exactly know why she had the distinct impression it wasn't some intrusive thought, but she was sure it wasn't hers.

"The holocron was lost to the Rebels, and you were found injured, unconscious..." The Emperor continued, not expecting to hear a response.

Leia didn't understand why he was telling her this, unless it was for his own pleasure of mocking her. It's not like if he asked her any questions she would be able to answer— she could hardly think right now. It was oddly peaceful.

Her reflection in the black glossy floor looked weird— _her shoulders were not that wide, were they?_

"—And the force within you appears to have been tainted from whatever had happened, Lord Vader."

Her heart spiked hearing Lord Vader's name and she was jolted from her half state of haze for a moment. _Was Vader here in this room right now?_ She couldn't hear that breathing. Looking around the room she didn't see any figures that could reasonably be him— but it sounded like Emperor Palpatine was addressing him as if he were in the room.

It was a ridiculous line of thought, but what if—

 **_You are someone else_ **.

"Lord Vader...?" The Emperor asked, turning to directly look down at her reaction, she could feel his eyes looking her up and down, even though she could not clearly see the details of his face. It was almost as if the Emperor was speaking to her when he spoke Vader's name. "I expect you to deal with whatever the witches caused quickly, and return to your duties. You have already been unconscious for several days. The Empire needs your services to function, after all."

Palpatine had a way of looking at someone as if he was eating them alive, and when he had spoken that last sentence to Leia she had no doubt he was aiming it at her in particular.

The Emperor was speaking to _her_ , Emperor Palpatine was addressing _her_ when he said _"Lord Vader."_

Either Emperor Palpatine had finally gone senile— or, as unlikely, strange and horrific it was Leia Organa was somehow Darth Vader.

There was something in her mind that screamed _truth_ when the thought came to her. The concept of it was a waking nightmare. It might have been funny if not for the experience of living it out.

"A days more rest outside of bacta is needed to achieve adequate health." The medroid spoke to the Emperor.

The man in response gave a non-committal noise, then gestured to the figures in red as he said:

"Bring Lord Vader to his room then." Before taking a few steps towards her, Leia noticed Palpatine's figure started to un-blur when he encroached on her personal space— giving her a close up view of his deformed visage. "I'm sure he needs the day of extra rest," the Emperor said condescendingly, "after all, he is going to single handedly hunt down the holocron he managed to loose..."

Being referred to as " _he_ " was insulting to Leia, more so than she thought it could be.

The red figures the Emperor had motioned for did not move to her, rather they changed position in the room to frame what Leia assumed was a door.

Emperor Palpatine, not looking for a response, turned away and left the room.

It's silence without him was deafening.

Although, she still felt completely lost and uncomfortable, she no longer felt threatened now that he was gone.

"Do not lie down on your back." The medical droid suddenly addressed her. "Currently, you have three blaster burns on your back, a mild concussion, and are likely under the influence of painkillers. Recommendation: do not work on any machines for six hours. Do not spar for twelve hours."

That sounded bad. Although Leia could feel none of it. She supposed that was why the droid informed her of this body's injures so she wouldn't accidentally worsen them. Taking note of how the droid did not move to take the respirator from her face, or mention it in its readout of what was wrong, she assumed Vader needed it to breathe at all times.

 _Well that solved the mystery of Vader's breathing_ , Leia thought. Always she would hear people in the senate spreading rumors. She never was a fan of them.

The droid looking down at her coldly said. "Are you capable of standing?"

Leia was not entirely sure, but she tried.

It was hard to get off the floor, a sudden wave of dizziness at the movement ensured that— making her fall on an elbow before trying again— then suddenly she was standing much taller than she was used too. The ground felt so far away. Standing up felt like Leia would topple over at any given moment. Vader's body was unevenly heavy. Her center of balance was off.

The droid did not comment on her ungraceful moves.

Trying her best not to look awkward or to immediately fall over as she walked with legs far heavier than she was used to— Leia moved to the door in between the red guards and was extremely grateful it opened automatically. She stepped inside.

The red guards did not follow her within it and it closed behind her with a loud clunk.

It was obviously a bedroom, but there was barely anything to it. Or at least nothing she could see with this blurry eyesight— mostly she could tell the colors.

All of it was black.

 _Of course._ She sarcastically thought. Most things in the Empire were.

The bed was a far less glossy black then the walls and floor were, and that was the only reason she was able to tell them apart standing at a short distance from them.

Leia wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself— or she should say with Vader's self.

 _Was she just supposed to sleep again?_ Certainly she felt tired. But there was still the leftover drying sweet stickiness to the bacta stuck on this body's skin— she however _really_ did not want to go through the cleaning process of that.

She looked down to Vader's cybernetic hands, feeling the weight of them, still feeling the surreal unreality of this situation mixed in with whatever painkillers she had apparently been drugged with. It made everything she was experiencing feel much more distant and dreamlike. Despite all this she was still very tired.

Then a thought came to her. _She had to know what Vader's face looked like._ People are always curious—Leia had wondered about what the Empire's enforcer really looked like before.

Upon further inspection of the room, there was another medroid in here— next to the bed who paid her no mind at the moment, and door that opened when she went near it, leading to a bathroom. A bathroom that was completely devoid of a mirror and had only the most basic cleaning supplies. For some reason the bath was placed in the middle of the room.

Which was weird— _who puts a bathtub in the middle of the room?_

That would remain a mystery then.

Not knowing what to do and feeling awful, emotionally and physically, she got into the bed— _forget feeling gross from the bacta._ That was tomorrow's problem.

Leia drifted off to sleep lying on their stomach.

* * *

She was dreaming of home, when that mysterious woman's voice whispered to her once again.

 **_Find me_ **.

But this woman had no form. And Leia did not know what she was supposed to be looking for or why.

 **_With me you will both learn your lesson_ ** **.**

There were many lessons Leia Organa had learned in her short life, she was always learning, but she did not know what lesson she was supposed to learn from this.

Whatever this was.

 **_Don't you know? You're—_ **

Then, Leia was jolted from sleep by a sharp pinch in the back of her upper arm. The feeling woke her up instantly.

 _She didn't know where she was_.

That was the first thought she had. The second was:

 _The night before, that couldn't have been real, could it have?_

A room made entirely in black, this uncomfortable sweet grimey feeling from the bacta, a throbbing that encased her lower back, eyesight that wouldn't come into focus. It was real.

 _Why didn't she panic about this before?_

"It is time for you to wake up." A droid stated.

 _When had that gotten there?_

Still lying down, Leia turned their head to see a medroid staring down at her on the other side of the bed.

She remembered it had been there last night but, she hadn't paid attention to it then.

If it had been there all night, it must have watched her while she slept. That was a creepy thought.

She turned her head into her pillow and started to make a groan of pain, but was startled at the sound it made. Their voice felt low and harsh in their throat.

"It is time for you to wake up." The droid repeated.

Leia now noticed it held an empty syringe in it's hand.

Quickly, she bolted upright in one motion.

The idea of being injected with something she did not know the contents of was greatly disturbing, even if this was not her body.

"What," Leia tried to speak, but was once again staggered by the sound of it, "... was in that?"

The droid looked to the syringe for a moment then returned it's gaze to her, and said:

"You have an hour to get ready, Lord Vader."

She was _Darth Vader._

Leia _remembered_ that but she didn't _feel_ it until now.

That medroid— it was unhelpful. There were other more pressing things for her to deal with then some droid that wouldn't answer her question giving her orders, and trying to follow Vader's schedule.

She looked down at the body she was inhibiting— _truly looked at it._

Vader's discolored skin made Leia want to hurl. A lot about him did. She somehow hadn't noticed that before.

There was this pull on the front of the neck whenever she turned Vader's head, Leia put a hand up to the front of her neck— when it made contact it felt less than it should have, and made a gentle clank sound— metal hitting metal.

The front of this neck, it was cybernetic. It split their throat down the middle and reached from under their jaw to the collarbone.

 _How does that even happen?_

She dropped her hand, and looked at that next.

The cybernetics were made unevenly on their arms. The left one was cut above the elbow while the right one was made below it. While Vader's legs were cut off evenly about halfway up the thighs.

Then she looked back at the skin itself. Along all visible flesh laid different types of scars, the most prominent of which was repeated across their body was a waxy discoloration she did not know the cause of. The second most prominent were raised lines that ran vertically, mostly on his right arm.

Perhaps not the most normal move to make, Leia used their left arm to feel the texture of her right, the cybernetic didn't quite pick up on it, only the leftover stickiness from the bacta never washed off the night before. Really, she shouldn't have been surprised by that, because where she was sitting, she knew she was sitting on a bed— she felt the pressure of it, but she didn't quite feel the softness of the fabric as she should have been able to.

A lack of feeling isn't what she expected. Leia didn't know why, but she had this idea in her head that extensive injures would have lead to a lot more sensation. Certainly though, that was a surface level thing because Leia did feel the throbbing burn of her back in several places.

Then there were other parts of Vader Leia didn't want to think about in the slightest. She wouldn't think about unless she _had_ to. At some point they would come up but— not now. She's not dealing with that now.

These types of extensive cybernetics in combination with the scars were obviously not the voluntary type. Whatever had happened to Lord Vader, Leia was sure he had deserved every moment of it and more.

As if this moment however, she was having a hard time thinking of what it would _mean_ to live in Darth Vader's body. In this body.

For now it was hers, even if she liked to refer to it as _theirs_ and _Vader's_ in her head.

From the benign to the deadly tasks— she had no idea how she would handle completing any of them. Lord Vader was a powerful yet mysterious figure in the Empire. She had no idea what his duties were besides kill all the Jedi— and there was less than a handful of them left.

And she was trapped in here without a single idea of how this happened and what had happened to Darth Vader himself, or how long she was going to be like this, or what comes next.

It was the most horrific hour in Leia Organa's life.

The fact that it was real was still hard to believe, despite the way she's been treated and this very obviously not being her body and there being this sense of _truth_ at that thought.

"Is something wrong?" The medroid asked in a tone that did not sound like a question.

"No." Leia responded, and felt the odd feeling of speaking through something that wasn't entirely organic— she felt the resistance of the respirator she wore hug her jaw and nose when she opened her mouth to speak.

That might have looked weird, to the droid— her sitting on the bed and just staring at herself.

"You have fifty minutes to get ready."

 _What does get ready even mean?_

There wasn't anything in this room from what she could tell.

The droid had no facial expression, but it somehow managed to look at her expectantly.

Leia supposed she should get into that armor of his, but where was it— or should she get this bacta residue off— or should she have something to eat?

But it wouldn't be possible to do that with this respirator on. It felt so tightly strapped onto their face, and she had no idea how to take it off to begin with.

This was awkward now.

She sat in near silence not knowing what to do, and hating every part of this.

 _Where was her real body_ ? She thought _. Was Vader in there?_

"Would you like assistance?" The droid stated.

She looked back to it.

Leia didn't know what the assistance was for to begin with, but she didn't know what to do or even where to begin otherwise.

"... Yes." She responded, then clenched her teeth. The sound of Vader's voice, it wasn't the same as the one in his armor but it was still painfully familiar.

The droid then moved from the side of the bed.

Princess Leia got the impression it wanted her to follow it.

Standing on Vader's legs was still hard— his body weight was uneven, and he was far heavier than Leia was used too— and the pressure put on the ends of their thighs where they connected to the cybernetics was strange and unfamiliar. Unlike last night however, she felt as if she had far more control and sensibility over everything.

At least her head wasn't as foggy as it was then.

After following the droid, Leia learned why the bath was located in the center of the room, and not against a wall or in one of the corners as most bathrooms were designed.

The droid was clinical, but she still didn't like it. It still made her feel a bit queasy to have it clean her for her as if she was incapable of doing that. She was also not a fan of being naked, nor was she a fan of having that happen in front of droid even if it wasn't exactly sentient and this was not exactly her body.

And for some reason, Darth Vader's armor was located _outside_ his bedroom. Back in that main chamber where the bacta tank was.

Being put into Darth Vader's armor was an entirely different experience than Leia thought it would be.

Getting into it felt as if she was being locked into a cage piece by piece.

And the process of getting this body ready before going into the suit wasn't pleasant either. Certain things had to be done to make sure she could stay in it all day— or much much longer than that, if needed. Some parts of it were uncomfortable to endure, other parts actually _hurt_.

At one point in time, when she had tried to unconsciously squirm and pull away from what was being done— because Leia simply couldn't keep herself still for _everything—_ one of the droids held her still in it's cold grip.

The sudden forcing of air into their lungs after the mask had been put into place was vomit worthy. She couldn't control her own breathing even if she tried.

Darth Vader's mask turned the word red.

Everything was tinged everything into shades of crimson, but it fixed their blurred vision. It also provided a constant readout of the time and schedule, and the name rank, and species of whomever she was looking at. Helpful, because she did not know the names of every Imperial officer and Inquisitor, but irritating as it came up every single time she looked at anyone and would not disappear until she looked away.

The armor itself was exactly as heavy as it looked, and the weight of it forced her to always be standing perfectly straight— while the skintight bodysuit that hugged every curve of this body was drastically different from the flowing robes of Alderaan. Leia had been told tight clothing felt like a hug, but this was not at all like that.

The second the droids had put it onto this body she wanted it off.

The only good thing about it was that she could make any face she wanted under there and no one would know. Leia had a feeling she would be doing that a lot.

Vader's schedule said he needed to check on the Inquisitors training progress, and then make a brief report on those who currently resided in the castle. Unfortunate, because Leia had no idea how to use Vader's lightsaber or the force— and she had no idea how good the Inquisitors were supposed to be, so she had no idea what progress was.

Fortunately due to working in the senate Leia had a pretty good idea on how to use her words to make it seem like she knew what she was talking about.

At the very least she could make something up on the spot.

* * *

The Inquisitors of the Empire were known to be deadly efficient killers in the Rebellion, wielding lightsabers in red, they could seemingly turn the tide of any battle and were experts at weeding out spies and hidden bases. Often looking for rogue Jedi directly under the orders of the infamous Darth Vader.

Now they would be taking her orders, and asked for her advice, because she was Lord Vader.

By some miracle none of them so far had realized there was something wrong or different about their commander— who according to her schedule had to periodically go to their section of the castle and train them. Or at least, if any of them had noticed something was different about him they did not comment on it.

Leia had expected to have to give them orders on where to go next, and to train them in combat. Which she did the the best of her ability, providing advice rather then physically training with them— knowing she would not be able to fake Vader's combat abilities in the slightest. She used blasters to fight, not a lightsaber or a staff.

Dealing with the Inquisitors interpersonal problems however, was not something she expected Darth Vader to have to do. More likely, Vader probably simply did not deal with these problems when then came up. But Leia Organa simply couldn't leave the Inquisitors to fight among themselves— considering the subjects they often fought because of. Most of which surprised her greatly. There wasn't much known about the Inquisitors, when she returned to normal some of it had to be useful. Having been a part of the senate, and living in the core world, Leia had to often see the Empire's anti non-human propaganda everywhere, so she hadn't _exactly_ expected the Inquisitorial ranks to be entirely made up of them.

Much like siblings, they often stole things from one another and fought almost constantly— despite the fact that she was positive all of them were older than her, she thought them to be more immature— although their fights tended to be much more violent and real.

The Inquisitors had an entire wing of Vader's castle dedicated just to them, meaning that when they were not on missions they essentially all lived together. This often caused problems for many reasons. Number one being that they all were assigned a number and that number meant if you were better or worse than someone else, often causing infighting among those who had a higher number but thought they were better than someone with a lower number.

Of course, looking like Darth Vader they always immediately stopped their actions when told. Making them apologize for their uncalled for actions— in theory it would be satisfying as Leia often fantasized about making senators do the same— but it very much was not satisfying. It felt more degrading than anything else.

Most of the Inquisitors acted as if they held great fear of Lord Vader. When they bowed to her, it was different then when her servants on Alderaan bowed. It felt wrong to see them get to their knees before her— but she could not tell them to stop as it would be out of character for Lord Vader to do so.

Leia quickly found out she did not like the feeling of being feared.

There was only one Inquisitor Leia felt as if respected her, and did not fear her.

"Vader is there something wrong?" An absolute brute of a tusked alien woman asked her in one of the hallways she had been passing through.

Noticeably she did not call Lord Vader by a title of any sort. She did it so casually— it must be something she often did. Somehow, she was taller and more muscular then Lord Vader's body was. The readout on Vader's mask told her she was a Dowutin named Masana Tide, a former Jedi now the Ninth Sister. By some means she had picked up on the fact that Leia was different then Vader— something none of the other Inquisitors had managed— or at least voiced.

"No. I am quite alright." Leia answered, still not used to Vader's mechanical voice coming out of her mouth.

"Your force presence seems muddled." Ninth said with a confused face looking her up and down. "As if you're slowly steppin' out of the dark."

Leia was only half sure what those words meant, but based on how that was phrased she knew that was not how Darth Vader normally was. That was worrying.

"I promise you I am fine." She tried reassuring the woman again.

"Don't get me wrong, I like this change in you. You're much less," she gave a vague hand gesture, "self destructive. I assume you took my advice?"

Leia did not know what Ninth had said to Lord Vader, nor why she would use the words _self destructive_ to describe him, but seeing and easy out of this conversation she said. "Yes. I did take your advice."

She smiled, it was much sweeter than she though a dedicated Imperial's smile could be.

"Good on you." Genuine and kind she spoke, before simply moving on her way.

Leia decided she rather liked her over every one else she had met in this castle.

Perhaps, respect was the wrong word for how the Ninth Sister felt towards Lord Vader.

It felt more like pity.

* * *

Being Darth Vader was bad in unexpected ways, she was expected to work with little sleep on subjects she knew very little about, and she had to keep that awful armor on most all the time. And when she did have it off, it was only ever in his bedroom or that room with the bacta tank. At all times she was being watched, by those guards in red or by that medical droid— she felt as if she had no privacy whatsoever— less than what she normally had as a senator and a princess.

At some point in time Leia began to think of Lord Vader's body as her own body. Stopping using _theirs_ and _Vader's_ when thinking of it.

She wasn't entirely sure how she would keep the distinction apart in her mind when she always saw through and existed in what had once been his eyes and body. Often she wondered if Vader was in her body, thinking the exact same things.

It was not comfortable— she would never be completely fine like this all the time— but she was not unused to seeing Vader when she looked down at herself.

The only friendly face she had seen was from the Ninth Sister, and Leia and only seen her that one time.

Only three days had passed since she had woken up as another person.

And then, Leia realized she had access to everything. Everything the Rebellion could ever need was sitting right in front of her. No one would question the authority of Lord Vader if she went looking for any information. All she had to do was get said information to the drop zones— that last part would be the hardest to do, she thought.

It was worth the sacrifice of having to live as someone else in a life she hated. It was worth the discomfort of her own skin. It was worth never seeing her parents again. She could save the galaxy. The Rebellion could _actually_ win the war.

Perhaps the Holocron had given the Rebellion exactly what they needed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I've seen a lot of body swap fics but none of them ever really capture what I imagine the horror of suddenly being in someone else's body is like. Especially if that person is someone you don't like or/and if their body is drastically different from your own.


	3. Seeing Yourself

Leia Organa tried her very best to get any important information for the Rebellion.

Trade routes, battle strategies, future political moves— but they were all _just_ out of her reach.

It was all quite literally right in front of her— no need to spend months or even years planting spies and hoping they make it, or send in a team of splicers and hoping they live long enough to transfer something important— the encrypted terminals were literally _right there_. She simply did not know any of the passcodes required to access said information. No matter how hard she stared at the screen, the answer didn't come to her.

It was a hard moment to realize, perhaps this wasn't exactly luck.

The holocron— Leia had thought it did this as a way to help the Rebellion, the side of the Jedi. Now she wasn't so sure.

Unless there was some part of all this she was missing.

What Leia did eventually learn however in that time, was news of herself on the holonet— or perhaps her body. It stated that she had returned from her mercy mission and was successful in providing aid. It was concerning to read this. To see yourself doing something that you had not done. There was no other news of herself, she had no idea what Darth Vader was doing in her body.

It was something Leia had not thought of in greater detail until now.

Lord Vader could be doing anything and she would never know and couldn't stop him. Much like how Vader could not prevent Leia from doing anything in his. Leia wondered if Vader had come to that same conclusion

All the information Leia gathered for the Rebellion luckily was never stored in her apartment, or on her ship— usually it was quickly deleted or transferred to another person— and in those few cases where it wasn't, she doubted Artoo would betray her. That droid was smarter than people gave him credit for. He would have to know _something_ was wrong. She hoped.

A lot of things Leia had to simply have hope for.

It was four days since she woke up when the fact that she was living as Lord Vader without any sight of end truly hit her once more.

Living for a short time on the feeling of the justice she could be able to accomplish like this, she had tried to ignore the more horrid parts of the situation.

But in those scarce few hours where she was able to rest, her thoughts ran and a harsher reality set in.

She, or Vader, is being run ragged at a near constant basis. There was always something that needed to be done. Perhaps if she had all the knowledge and abilities Lord Vader had it would not be a problem— it was likely that he could do and did so everything much faster.

It was her failure to find any greatly helpful information that brought this mood on.

If only she wasn't hyper-aware of the most basic actions she made because this was not her body— even in moments when she was completely alone there wasn't exactly any sense of comfort or security. She felt wrong in everything she did, even though she despised Vader and everything he stood for.

There was one thing that sparked a sense of hope, tomorrow she was scheduled to travel to Coruscant. A meeting with the Emperor and an attendance with him to the senate before being sent out into space on an actual mission. Battle strategies were not Leia's strong suit— she was pretty sure— her last one got her into this situation to begin with. And Vader was a bit of a more hands on type of leader.

Leia would have to do everything in her power to try and locate her body before then. There was no way she could take care of any mission intended for Darth Vader.

If she failed to locate her body, she supposed as one final rebellious act she could use this form to kill the Emperor. That move would eventually mean death for her surely— she was pretty sure the Moffs would not take kindly to the Emperor being assassinated even if it was Vader who did it— but she wouldn't be able to survive a mission anyways.

She might as well make her death count, and eliminating the Emperor wasn't too hard of a task.

After all, how hard could it be, to kill one old man?

* * *

Many times before she had seen Lord Vader kneel before the Emperor on one foot— staying down until the Emperor told him to rise. Much to her distaste, she would have to do the same when greeting him.

It was hard, going down on one knee with all this armor.

Oddly, the Emperor waited for quite some time after she had knelled before him in his throne room. She could not exactly see his face clearly at this angle, but she had the general impression he was looking her over.

"Lord Vader." The Emperor stated. "What are you doing?"

At those worse she was struck with sudden anxiety. _Had she somehow done it wrong? Did she kneel on the wrong knee or did Lord Vader only kneel for him in public?_

She might not even get the chance to look for her own body in the senate.

Leia had to keep telling herself, _there was no way he could know she was not Darth Vader_. She was fine.

The Emperor would not order someone to harm or kill his unofficial second in command for messing up on something so small— if she had done something wrong.

There was this strange feeling, like a pressure on her skull and behind her eyes. It was different then a headache, because it didn't _quite_ hurt.

"I was told to accompany you to the senate." She responded.

"That was not what I was referring to. There is something gravely wrong with you, my old friend." Despite looking so small and fragile, The Emperor spoke like a powerful predator. The man stood from his seat and walked to where she was still kneeling— he somehow looked like one as well— there was something about his body language that read as _dangerous_ despite his fragile look. "Tell me my dear apprentice. What do you seek to gain from this?"

Nothing was out of place— there was no way he could feasibly know something was off and yet he did know _something_.

"...What are you talking about?"

Now, Emperor Palpatine stood less than two feet away from her— kneeling like this he appeared to be taller than her.

The way this was beginning to play out was very quickly starting to frighten her. Somehow, The Emperor knew something was wrong or different with his second in command. What he knew Leia did not know, but the idea was terrifying. Right now Leia was far bigger and stronger than the old man— but there was just this _something_ about him that struck her as dangerous, even now.

Leia was positive if she grabbed Vader's lightsaber and turned it on, she would be able to kill him easily, logically that should be true— but it _felt_ like that wasn't.

"Do not play this game with me. I gave you your new name and life. Do not make me take it from you." He spoke, almost spitting the last words. Then he placed his hand on the armor of her shoulder, and suddenly changed tone into something much lighter. "Are we not friends?"

There were a lot of red flags being set off from all of this interaction. Leia had no idea how Vader would react to this. If any of this was normal.

She didn't _actually_ know anything about Vader and the Emperor's connection besides what she saw on the holo— the information the rebels had was just about as detailed— there was something _more_ two whatever they had going on, that was the impression Leia was getting from this. This isn't how someone speaks to their second in command. This wasn't how they spoke in public.

"I sense a great fear from you." The Emperor continued. "Great anger, despair. But you are no longer using it as you should be. Where has your passion gone?"

 _Sense_ was a particular interesting choice of word.

Was that how the Emperor knew something was off?

She was truly at a loss for words, she thought she would have come up with something to say about this, but she did not.

"Do you have nothing to say for yourself, no defense, no reasoning?"

Leia had nothing she could say to him in defense of whatever he was upset about. There was no combination of words capable of giving him whatever he wanted— because _she didn't even know what it was that he wanted._ All she knew was that it felt dangerous to be around him.

If the Emperor did have powers like Vader did— _what could she possibly do against him? Would her last resort plan even work to begin with?_

"Rise, Lord Vader. We will continue this discussion later, the senate can be a bit agitated when things don't go as scheduled." He abruptly said, then held his arm for her to hold. "Lead me."

Getting off her knees, Leia did as she was told and let him use her hand.

She has seen Vader do this for the Emperor many times before— but now she had no doubt that he did not need help to walk despite his appearance. That all of this was a show to make the Emperor look like he needed protecting from his second in command. To make him appear weak. A predator dressing as prey.

* * *

It was strange, to be at the center of the senate, instead of inside one of the many side pods the senators themselves were.

Leia Organa was not exactly a stranger to being the center of attention, but this was far more than she was used to. It was not just the senate that was watching her at this moment, it was also every person watching the live broadcast over the holonet. She wasn't doing anything— Vader never did anything at these types of things besides stand by the Emperor's side and look menacing as the man himself spoke— it was still a bit more attention then she cared for.

From this distance and angle, Leia couldn't quite see where she would usually be seated for the Emperor's speeches.

Vader might not even be here, his dislike for politicians was not exactly a secret— it would be a waste of time to try and find him— that would be useless anyways, there probably wasn't anything he could do to help her, never mind him actually want to do anything to help her to begin with. That whole plan to try and find her body in the senate seamed ridiculous now.

The main overarching thing Leia thought standing straight by the Emperor's side as he spoke was simply:

 _I have to get out of here._

Leia needed to leave immediately. Before the Emperor realized she was not Vader, as absurd that would sound. Even if he never figured that out, somehow he knew something was wrong. And she did not want to know what happened when Lord Vader displeased the Emperor, or what he would do to try and fix it. The life she was living as Darth Vader was plenty rigid and controlled already.

If she managed to get away from him for a short while she could take this armor off— get _something_ on that makes sure she stays breathing— and then just disappear into the galaxy. No one knew exactly what Vader looked like after all.

As harsh as it was, this wasn't what the Rebel Alliance had needed— Leia was not helping the Rebellion in any manner by being Darth Vader, she could however throw a wrench in the works by making sure Darth Vader disappeared from the galaxy forever.

Leia did not give the Emperor a chance to say anything else to her after his time in the senate was over. She stepped out of line from the Emperor's red guards and took off away from the private secure part of the senate and into the public area.

There was one thing Leia learned from being heavily involved in politics is that in public, politicians will avoid confrontation— the Emperor and his guards would not stop her from leaving because that would be a messy look. And people tended moved _very_ quickly away from her power walk.

No one would question where Lord Vader was going it appeared.

Then, in the hallway she saw herself _— her actual body—_ and froze.

* * *

Seven long days had passed before Darth Vader figured out an idea of how to go about reversing this curse.

When he sensed the presence of himself he realized it. He knew what the presence of Sidious felt like— so this force sensitive individual _must_ be Leia in his body. Not light enough to be a Jedi, not dark enough to be a considered Sith— but ridiculously powerful and overshadowing every other being. She sat more towards the middle, although she was skewed slightly more towards the dark.

That was unacceptable. The Emperor would certainly notice his apprentice suddenly leaning more towards the light than usual— and would go to great lengths to _fix_ that problem. Pain made the Sith powerful but the Organa child was not Sith. Sidious would cast aside his apprentice as he did the others before him if Vader proved to be suddenly unworthy of his teachings.

However, what was most important about this situation was that Leia Organa probably knew where the holocron was moved to, probably. Likely if the two of them could get to that, they would be able to reverse this situation and everything would return to the way it should be.

Then Vader could take his revenge out on the princess and her family.

Vader would have to find a way to approach her and get her into a private area to talk. That would be hard, considering the bugs Imperial intelligence kept in ever senate office— although he supposed it wouldn't matter to him if the two of them got out of there quick enough before someone came to investigate.

He also had no idea what Leia's reaction to this would be.

It was an exciting morning— _finally_ something was happening and Vader actually had somewhat of a plan to get out of this mess.

 _You're a bit more chipper than usual today_ Artoo said, at his side by the kitchen table— then his droid asked him. _You finally finish that speech_

Vader hasn't even worked on it in the slightest. Writing wasn't exactly where his talented were and he had no interest in playing Senator.

"Of course I have." He lied.

 _I haven't heard you practicing it_

"I don't need practice for this." He told the droid. Then he added. "Artoo, you and Threepio stay here for the day."

 _Somethings up with you. I'll find out what eventually_

If everything went as Vader planned the droid would know, eventually.

After Vader came back to take them and he killed the Organa's for everything they have done to him he would gladly explain everything to the best of his ability.

"I'm sure you will."

* * *

The first time Darth Vader caught sight of what used to be himself was in a senate meeting.

Strange, it felt to stare at himself— or his body he should say— in the senate, standing motionless by the Emperor's side. It was different from seeing himself in holos, although similar to some occasions where he couldn't remember the exact details of a recorded event.

He wondered exactly what that Rebel princess had gotten up to in her spare time. There was no doubt whatever it was, it would be no good. At the very least, Vader hoped it wouldn't take years to repair whatever damage she had done to his apprenticeship with Sidious. Although seeing as she was standing by his side at the moment, he figured it couldn't have gotten too bad between them, yet.

The moment the senate session was over, Vader bolted from the office and began following Leia's force presence. She was anxious, _scared,_ about something.

If she managed to leave the building, there was a very good chance Vader would not be able to get to her for a long time.

Quickly now, he moved by people not stopping for anything. He was sure it was considered rude and uncharacteristic—for the princess— to walk this fast and push through people as he was, but he had much more important things to consider at the moment— it wasn't as if he cared about Leia Organa's reputation anyways.

Vader heard himself before he saw himself— or perhaps he should say his body.

There in the senate building, he saw his own visage.

And he saw Leia Organa turn to see him, and freeze on the spot.

Certainly, that must be the Princess. It _couldn't_ logically be anyone else.

He forced a breath in and held it for a moment before approaching. It would be unfortunate if they made a scene in public.

"Lord Vader, I would like to speak with you." He told what he assumed was Leia. Looking up at her— oddly the sight wasn't exactly familiar— although he knew it was his own form.

In the force, he felt her confusion and anxiety.

It was still strange, to sense his own force presence— it was very overbearing. He was quite sure it wasn't just because of her lack of shielding, Vader had always been told his presence was overwhelming for others.

Quickly he turned on his heels and made his way back to Leia's office before anything else could be said or any onlookers would interrupt. Vader didn't need to turn around to know the Organa's child was following him.

The moment they both entered the office space and shit themselves off from the rest of the senate, Leia began to speak.

"You—"

Interrupting, Vader held up a finger to signal not to continue.

She, at the very least, had enough mind to follow his wordless order. Then he made a clenching motion with his hand as he destroyed the monitoring device hidden in the room. That was going to surely set some notification off somewhere, but that wasn't his problem.

"Now that that is taken care of." Vader said turning to face Leia. "I know you are Princess Organa, _Rebel scum."_ Vader said inflecting venom into the last two words.

"You're Lord Vader then." Leia spoke in his voice, it was strange to hear a distinctly core world accent come out of his mouth— or at least come from the vocoder.

"What gave it away?" He responded sarcastically, then added. "Where is the holocron? We need to fix this as soon as possible."

" _No_." Boldly she responded.

"What?" Vader tilted his head at that unexpected move— surely the girl could not possibly want to be trapped in the wrong form. "You _cannot_ be serious."

"I will not give you rebel information."

"The holocron can reverse this." He explained. The Rebels secrecy kept them alive for this long, but they had more important problems at hand to deal with then their own alliances to a cause. "I do not care for your Rebel information at the moment, I only care to have my life back before you manage to ruin it."

"Ruin it? I don't think I could make your life worse if I tried."

Vader took a step forward.

"Then you must see how it's _much more_ logical to work together to solve this problem of ours. Seeing as you do not like my life." He said.

Leia Organa was a politician, and Vader hated those types.

"There must be a way of fixing this without that."

"There is not." Now, Vader stood directly in front of Leia— it was probably far less intimidating then he hoped. "Why exactly are you refusing this when I _know_ you would much rather be where you belong. I can sense your fear. Your anxiety."

What those feelings were for Vader could not tell, but he knew she had them— Leia wasn't exactly well versed in not projecting her feelings, and with a force presence like this it would be very hard to control herself from not doing that.

"Because it would be _compromising_. It would be… better if I stayed like this then brought you to..."

But there were obviously conflicting feelings over these words— Leia did not entirely believe in her own words.

Sometimes, the self sacrificial nature of rebels was to be admired— their dedication was something Vader wished he could get from stormtroopers— but he could see no honor in something like that in this particular situation.

 _Unless—_ he thought— _the rebel had been using his body for her own gain._

Vader was beyond aggravated by this Organa, he didn't want to spend an hour verbally sparring with her just to get her to do something that benefited the both of them.

He was not going to become a pawn in some rebel game.

"Then, _die_."

It took less than five seconds for Vader to put Leia on the floor, despite her being in a much larger body. Darth Vader knew exactly how his body and armor worked, and he was going to use every part of that to his advantage. The force wasn't needed for his fight— if it could even be called that, because it was clear the princess was not a physical brawler even if she knew how to use a blaster.

Quickly, Vader pushed one of the buttons on her chest he knew was the respirator reset— then took out the knife he had hidden and jammed it into the space on the left arm where he know metal met flesh and would be most painful.

The knife did not slide through the thick leather of the suit, but Vader knew from his own experiences it would _hurt_.

Taking a step back from suddenly being attacked, Leia stepped onto her cape and fell to the floor on her backside.

Vader stepped over Leia and put a foot on her lower stomach, where he knew there wasn't any protective armor.

"You think just because I'm in your weak body I can't fight back? How would your parents feel if I killed them?"Leia did not respond— Looking up at him from the floor. Vader hated that image of his form and body looking so weak and pathetic under him. "Just as you can use me to ruin the Empire and my image, I can use you to kill everyone you love. They wouldn't see it coming."

"You wouldn't _dare"_ Leia started to insult him. "You ugly piece of—"

"—Then help me get the holocron and we can reverse this. I'm sure we both have enough blackmail to keep one another in a stalemate forever."

For a few seconds the Organa child went silent.

The Princess was thinking— Vader could tell that— he could feel her anger, frustration, and anxiety. If it came down to it Vader would quite literally drag her away from here to solve this situation. It didn't matter to him if the princess came willingly or not.

Although figuring out how to get his unconscious or unwilling body to a ship from here would be quite difficult. Perhaps Vader could influence her mind to make her follow him, she had no teachings on the force, influencing her mind should be easy in theory. However she has proven herself already to be quite stubborn.

"Fine." She finally answered, and Vader removed his foot from her stomach. "But I don't actually know where it is. I only know that it was supposed to be headed to a Jedi in our ranks."

"To Jarrus?"

"I don't know their name." She answered— There was truth in that statement.

Then Vader watched Leia pick herself off the floor with some difficulty. She braced nearly all of her weight on her elbows before bringing her knees to her chest and standing up. Clearly she did not know how to use the force— Vader usually used it to aid in his movement and balance. His suit's armor was a hindrance, on occasion.

The Rebellion must be higher in preserving secrecy than he thought. She had been the one to lead the mission of getting the holocron to begin with and she hadn't know its final destination.

"Do you know a base that Jedi would be located at?" He asked another question.

"I don't know."

There was truth in that statement as well. With his luck even with the rebel's help the two of them will be stuck like this forever.

"Do you know _anything_ helpful?"

"I have an idea of a planet they're known to visit often."

Not much to go on. But Vader was more then willing to try anything to solve this situation.

"I suppose… that will have to do."

"We will have to think of some excuse for your absence— or my absence I should say." Leia spoke.

"I do not care what others will think of your sudden absence. It is far more important that we solve this as soon as possible. Unless you _want_ me to live out the rest of your life."

"And what about Lord Vader's sudden disappearance then?" Leia asked.

 _As if she would care about that,_ Vader thought.

"That matters not to you. I will deal with it when the time arises."

There was a lot Vader would have to take care of after this situation. Hopefully he will have gotten enough information for him to be forgiven. The Organa family being a part of the Rebellion was decent— but he _wanted_ more

"So what, we're just going to leave everything, right now?"

Vader wished he could take Artoo and Threepio with him for this, but the pair would be better off here. There would be less variables this way.

"Yes Princess, I believe I had made that quite clear."

The two of them would leave _now_ , before Organa could manage to do anything else. Her ship was far less than adequate for his standards, but it would be fine for getting them from one planet to another.


End file.
